Posted By
Mike Petraglia
On
June 21, 2014 @ 2:54 pm
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General |
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Now we know.

In 2007, when the Celtics[1] finished 24-58, they had a theoretical chance to finish first in the NBA draft lottery and choose between either Kevin Durant[2] or Greg Oden[3].

On Saturday, as the Celtics[1] continued to work out players for the 2014 NBA draft, Celtics[1] director of player of personnel Austin Ainge announced what his father Danny would’ve done.

“I personally was not working here. But I was in college and I was in the draft room, and they would have taken Durant. I did have some inside information there,” Ainge said.

Of course, that became moot when the Celtics[1] wound up with only the fifth pick of the draft class. Everything turned OK when Danny Ainge convinced Minnesota’s GM and good friend Kevin McHale[4] to trade him Kevin Garnett[5] for Al Jefferson[6] before drafting Jeff Green[7] at No. 5 and then swung a deal that netted Ray Allen[8]. Oden was eventually chosen No. 1 overall by Portland while Durant was taken by the then-Seattle SuperSonics. Oden has been plagued by various injuries, including two bad knees and microfracture surgery. Oden played this season for the Heat.

Durant is the reigning NBA MVP, four-time scoring champ and led his team to the NBA finals[9] in 2012.

Why is this relevant now?

The Celtics[1] might get a chance to take another injury-riddled big man at No. 6 this year after it was revealed this week that Joel Embiid, another highly-touted center, has a stress fracture in his right foot. Throw in concerns about his back and those are serious medical red flags.

“Probably best not to share all of that, but I think we all want to know exactly what it is,” Ainge said. “Even when you have a lot of information, sometimes it’s still just a best guess. I’m not sure what the conclusions will be by the doctors. I’m sure, as with Avery Bradley[10] and Jared Sullinger when we drafted them, the medical staffs all had different opinions for every team. It’s hard to predict.”

The Celtics[1] have had a track record of taking players with an injury background, taking Avery Bradley[10] and Jared Sullinger in previous drafts.

“It’s case by case. There have been many, many guys we passed on,’ Ainge said. ‘Our medical staff told us to pass on Greg Oden[3], our medical staff told us to pass on Brandon Roy[11]. Brandon ended up having some very good years, and that may or may not have been the right decision. It ended up costing them a lot of money in the end but he did give them a few great years ‘ four or five, I think, maybe six. So there’s two we’ve taken the chance on. There have been many others that we’ve not decided to (take a) chance on.”

Before picking Bradley, the Celtics[1] were able to examine him and determine the extent of his ankle injury.

‘With Jared, we weren’t (able to look at him),’ Ainge said. ‘We were just emailed and sent things. So it’s different. You just do the best you can.’

Ainge acknowledged that taking Embiid would be a risk, given what is known so far.

“Foot and back, those are not good body parts to injure,” Ainge said. “We try to focus on the long-term health more than the short-term when you’re dealing with draft picks,” he added. “Free agency, it might be a little different. But when you’re drafting kids that are 19, 20, 21, it’s usually best to think: ‘Two years, five years down the road, will it be a concern?’ Those are the ones we usually try to avoid.”

The four that did work out on Saturday morning in Waltham were Louisville[12]‘s Chane Behanan, UConn’s Niels Giffey, Glenn Robinson III of Michigan and St. John’s JaKarr Sampson.